Turnadette Series 6 Speculation Fics
by turnt4turnadette
Summary: Some reviewers brought it to my attention to major formatting issues, so I just deleted the original publication and I have uploaded this one to get it fixed. This is my collection of fics that I write the week before a new episode airs about what I think might happen based off of summaries and pictures. As seen on my Tumblr turnt4turnadette.
1. The Sweetest Gift (6x01)

"You're pregnant"

The words of Dr. Horringer echoed in her head as she rode the bus home from his office on Harley Street. She thought she would never hear those words in her life after seeing Dr. Horringer three years ago when he told Patrick it would be very unlikely that she would be able to carry a child. She would have given anything to hear those words three years ago, but now, she wasn't quite sure how to feel. Part of her was excited to have another child to love and admired how amazing God is to give her such a wonderful blessing, but part of her worried about what Patrick would think, they never really discussed expanding their family after adopting Angela. What would Timothy think having a sibling 15 years younger than him? How would Angela feel when she got older about the situation? She wondered how this would impact the future of her career. There was no turning back now, she thought as she got off the bus to walk home.

* * *

She picked up Angela and they arrived home to an empty house. When she put her down, she ran over to her toys and began to play with her dolls. When Dr. Horringer called this morning wanting to discuss her test results from her appointment three days prior, Patrick had given her the afternoon off to go see the doctor, but he had evening rounds and was unable to go with her. She didn't have much time to put the plan together, Patrick would want to know the results as soon as he saw her. She never thought she would ever get to plan a romantic pregnancy reveal, but now she had the perfect chance and did not want to mess up. She went into the spare closet, and started looking on the shelves, glancing by as she looked where Timothy's leg braces once hung on the wall. She looked through all the drawers and couldn't find the thing she was looking for. She didn't have much time to come up with another plan before Timothy arrived home, making worry fill inside her. When she was about to give up, she saw it hiding underneath one of Timothy's shirts. She grabbed an empty box and put it inside and shut the lid. She left the closet and went into their bedroom and put the box under the bed. Now all that was left to do was to wait for his arrival home.

* * *

Timothy and Angela were already in bed when Patrick arrived home. She was standing in the living room waiting for him and Shelagh walked down the hall to their bedroom with Patrick following behind and closed the door. They were standing by the bed when Shelagh asked,

"How did Mrs. Rollins' delivery go?"

"It was a long labor, but mom and baby are doing well" he replied

Silence started to fill the room and Shelagh started getting really nervous about the truth that was about to come out. Finally, after what felt like forever, Patrick asked,

"What did the test results say?"

She grabbed the box from underneath the bed and sat on the bed feeling too nauseous to stand back up. She extended her arms towards him with the box.

"I have something for you" she said.

With a confused look on his face, he replied "What are you doing? What were your results?"

"Just open the box" she replied.

He grabbed the box with a confused look on his face and opened it. Inside was the nightdress Shelagh had made when they first married that Angela later wore. He put the box down on the bed and held the nightdress with both hands. She anxiously awaited his reaction as he processed what was happening. He just stared at the nightdress with a stunned look, saying nothing.

"Patrick?" She said

He went from looking at the nightdress and looked at Shelagh with a huge grin on his face.

"You're pregnant?" he said like he already knew the answer

"Yes" she answered, smiling back at him.

He sat on the bed with her and grabbed her hand, still smiling ear to ear and said

"This is so astonishing, Shelagh, I couldn't be more trilled"

"Obviously being a doctor, when you told me your symptoms, pregnancy crossed my mind, but with the prognosis you were given three years ago from Dr. Horringer, I dismissed it from my mind" he added.

"Me too, I thought I had caught the stomach flu" she replied.

"I'm very excited to have another child to love, but I'm also worried because things are so good the way they are now, I wonder what will Timothy and Angela think? Would I be able to pick up my work again once the baby was born?" She added.

"I know that Angela would be happy to have another sibling to play with and Timothy would be delighted to welcome a new member to the family. We were able to find someone to watch Angela so you could work and we can do the same for the baby. I love working with you everyday and I want you to return to work with me after the baby is born if that is what you want. We will figure this out, we always do" he answered.

Shelagh smiled at him relieved that he was so happy about the new arrival.

"I love you" said Shelagh

"I love you too" Patrick replied

He leaned in and embraced in a sweet kiss. Shelagh broke the kiss, starting to giggle.

"What's so funny?" He asked

"I guess that we brought home a little more from South Africa than we thought" she answered.


	2. A Growing Secret (6x02)

Timothy rushed into the clinic before catching the bus to school to drop off a copy of The Lancet to that his dad left at home that morning. He walked in to see three ladies standing by the door talking and walked up to the front desk where his mom was sitting, preparing the medical records that his dad would need for the day.

"Timothy, you should be at the bus stop by now" said his mom

"I know I just came by to give dad his copy of The Lancet so he could have something to read during his lunch break" he replied

Shelagh grabbed The Lancet from his hands and thanked him for taking the time to bring it by. Just as he was about to leave the office, his mom turned pale and began to gag as if she was about to be sick. She ran towards the restroom. He stood by the desk and waited for her to come out to make sure that she was okay before he left for school. Minutes later she came out and said

"Timothy, I know that you have to catch the bus soon and if there was another way, I would do it, but can you please sit at the front desk, I still need another minute. "

"I will" he replied

She rushed back to the restroom as he took a seat in the chair. He looked at the clock, knowing that he was pushed for time, but that wasn't important right now, he just hoped that his mom would be okay. For the most part nothing too crazy happened, until the phone rang. He answered the phone and said "Hello?"

"Yes this is Mary Jennings, my husband is having another back spasm and he has ran out of his medicine, I was wondering if you could call him in another prescription for me? His name is Andrew Jennings." she said

"No, I'm afraid Dr Turner's been called to an emergency" he replied

"He is really hurting right now and needs his medicine, can you call it in?" Mary asked

"No, I can't prescribe" said Timothy

"why not?" she replied

"because I'm only 15" he answered in a sassy tone.

Just as he hung up the phone, he was relieved to find Sister Winifred walking up to the front desk, but she had a concerted look on her face.

Where is your mom?" she asked

"She suddenly felt really ill" he replied

"She asked me to sit here for a minute, because she couldn't leave the medical records unattended" he added

"Leave this to me, and run for your bus" said Sister Winifred

"Don't forget to comb you hair" she added

Only then he remembered he forgot to comb his hair because he had to finish the math homework he forgot to do the previous night and lost track of time. Timothy was so glad that Sister Winifred was taking over, he rushed out of the clinic and after running to the bus stop, he hopped on the bus just when the driver was about to close the doors.

* * *

The opening of the front door had waken Timothy up out of a deep sleep that night. His dad must have just now been getting home. This is not the first time his dad's late arrivals have woken him up, but he began to hear talking coming from the living room, which was strange because normally he would go straight to bed when he arrived home at this late hour. He couldn't quite make out what there were saying all the the way over from his bed with the door closed, so he decided to tiptoe over to his bedroom door and put his ear to the closed door. He knew that eavesdropping on his parents was probably not a smart idea, but its not like he was going to be able to go to sleep with the conversation going on in the living room and curiosity got the best of him.

"Why didn't you leave the scene as soon as help arrived?" asked Patrick in a stern tone

Timothy realized that his dad was talking about earlier that day when his mom witnessed a terrible explosion at the docks.

"As a nurse, I felt like it was my duty to help in every way I possibly could to serve the community. I would have felt like a terrible person if I would have just walked away when the extra personnel arrived" she answered back in a defensive tone

"Shelagh, I'm sorry for making you feel like that you couldn't do your job, but I was so worried about you, you could have gotten really hurt and can't bear the thought of losing you or the baby" he replied in a loving tone

Timothy couldn't believe what he had just heard. His mom pregnant? But how? Well from reading medical journals he knew how, but he remembered mom being really sad when she came back from the doctor three years ago and then later when his parents decided to adopt Angela. He didn't understand at the time, but now he knew that she was sad because she found out she couldn't have a baby. Everything began to make sense, why his mom was sick three days ago when he had to sit at the front desk and every morning after watching her not eat breakfast and sometimes he could tell she wasn't feeling well in the afternoons. This would also explain why she was going to bed earlier than usual and why her and dad seemed happier than usual. He heard them walking towards the hall and he tiptoed back to bed as fast as he could. Now he couldn't go back to sleep with the new information he heard and debated if he should keep quiet of confront his parents. Eventually he got tired and fell back to sleep, unsure of what would happen next.

* * *

That next morning he got ready in a hurry and grabbed a bread from the pantry to get to the bus stop early that morning. He didn't know how long he could pretend that his mom's pregnancy was still a secret to him, so by getting out of the house as soon as he could that morning helped him buy some time. At school that day, he had a hard time focusing in class. Why were they keeping this from him? How far along was his mom? When were they going to tell him and Angela? How long did they know? were some of the questions that floated in his mind. When he got home from school that day. When he got home that day, he ate his after school snack and made small talk with his mom and then retreated to his room to do homework. Before he knew it, Shelagh called the family to the kitchen to eat dinner and he left his room to head to the kitchen.

As he ate his food, he really tried to act normal, but he was bothered by the fact that his parents were carrying on normal conversation knowing that they had such big news that they thought he didn't know.

"How was your day at school" asked his dad

"good" he replied

"that's all I get?" his dad said in said in joking tone

"I went to school and learned stuff and then I came home" he answered in a dull tone

After he said that, he watched his parents exchanged a concerned look and he knew that something was wrong.

"Did something bad happen at school today?" asked his mom

"No it was just another day at school" he replied

"Then what is it?" asked his dad

He knew that he could make up something to keep his cover a little longer, but he didn't want to keep this secret of his knowledge of his mom's current condition to himself any longer. He didn't like having this secret between them and wanted things to go back to normal.

After the pause in conversation, he looked at Shelagh and said "mom, I know that you're pregnant"

His parents had a shocked look on their faces when he told them the truth and then they looked at each other once again with a concerned look filled with a little panic. He could tell that they were not sure what to say next.

Finally his dad asked "How long have you known?"

"Since last night, when you came home, it woke me up and I heard you and mom's conversation in the living room" he replied

"I have been so worried about you mom since you were sick at the clinic four days ago with no sign of getting better as time passed or seeing a doctor" he added

"We were going to sit you and Angela down yesterday and tell you the news, but then the dock explosion happened and everything turned into chaos, we were trying to wait for right time to tell you, but it is clear that we waited too long " said mom

"This is a surprise for us too and we got lost in the shock of it all. We are so sorry for keeping it from you for as long as we did" his dad added

"That's okay" he said

"I am excited to welcome a new brother or sister to the family, I just have one question" he added

"What is it?" asked his dad

"Would I still get the same pocket money, I wouldn't get a third?" he said as he broke out into laughter


	3. A New Patient (6x03)

Everyone with an appointment to see Dr. Turner at his office that day had already come and gone that late afternoon. Once the waiting area had cleared out, she pulled out a stack of papers from the drawer of the front desk. She still couldn't believe that the day would come where she would need to fill out a new patient form to be seen by a Midwife. She looked at the stack of the completed forms and put them into her file. She went to the appointment book and filled herself in for 7:30 on Tuesday morning at the clinic. Just as she was closing the appointment book Patrick came of of his office and smiled at her when he saw that she was at the front desk. He walked up to her and asked

"Are you sure that this is how you want everyone to find out"

"Yes, I am excited to see everyone's reaction when they learn about Nonnatus' newest patient" she replied as she stood up.

"I just don't think I can contain my excitement for that long" he said

"Its going to be hard for me too, but the reaction of the person who picks up the clipboard will make it all worthwhile" said Shelagh

"Lets get home shall we?" he said as he wrapped his arm around her

"Sounds great" she replied as they walked out the front door.

* * *

The day of her appointment arrived that would also be the day that it would be revealed that she was expecting. She watched at clinic that morning as everyone made preparations for the day ahead. She tried to busy herself as best she could, but she was very excited for her pregnancy to not be a secret anymore. When she would walk by Patrick, she could tell he was struggling to keep calm too. They would exchange glances of excitement as discreetly as they could without drawing too much attention. She eagerly awaited as 7:30 drew closer and closer to being here.

"Remember to see patients as quickly as possible ladies, we need to maintain a hub of energy" said Sister Ursula

"Barbara, you have the first patient today" Sister Ursula added

Shelagh was at the front table ripping out the pink tickets to hand out for the day as Barbara went to the front table to pick up the clipboard to see who she would be caring for first that day.

"Thats strange, our first appointments usually start at 8, but this one says 7:30" said Barbara as her face slowly turned into one of shock and of careful inspection.

"Shelagh Turner" she said as a question with excitement in her tone with a look of joy. She looked around to everyone in the room starring at her.

"You're having a baby?" asked Barbara

"Yes" Shelagh replied with a huge grin on her face

"Congratulations" she said and gave her a hug. She turned around to see that Patrick, along with everyone else

was standing around her now.

"Congratulations on the new addition to your beautiful family" said Nurse Crane

"This is such joyful news and a wonderful blessing, I am so happy for you and Patrick!" said Sister Julienne hugged Shelagh

"Congratulations, this is so exciting!" said Sister Winifred she said as she gave Shelagh a hug.

"I would offer you a bonbon to celebrate, but unfortunately I no longer have the means to do so" said Sister Monica Joan.

"Congratulations , but you need to go to the back for your exam, wouldn't want to cause a delay" said Sister Ursula

"Yes Sister" she replied as her and Barbara went over to one of the beds and closed the curtains.

"How have you been feeling so far?" asked Barbara

"The morning sickness hasn't been very fun, but it has been getting better these last couple of days" she replied as sat on the examination bed and pulled up her shirt for Barbara to examination.

"But I can't complain, three years ago I was told that the chances of me becoming pregnant was almost impossible, I never thought I would see the day when I would be one of Nonnatus House's patients. I am so thankful for the blessing that God has given our family" she added.

"Children are definitely a blessing from God and His timing is perfect. I am so happy for you and Patrick" she said as she pressed on Shelagh's abdomen.

"Now legs up and knees apart" said Barbara after a pause in the conversation.

Once she was finished with the internal examination, Barbara said "Everything looks normal and you look to be twelve weeks along" with a smile on her face.

"That is music to my ears" replied Shelagh as she hopped down from the examination table.

They walked out of the curtain and Barbara went to the back room to get ready to see her new patient while Shelagh walked back to the front table to welcome the patients for the upcoming day. Shelagh continued with her day, relieved that the news was out and her first appointment went well.

* * *

Later that night, Shelagh was at home making dinner when she glanced over into the living room to see Timothy playing with Angela on the living room floor. Just then a feeling an overwhelming feeling of gratefulness overcame her. She thought about how thankful she was to get to be Timothy and Angela's mother. She was thankful that she has seen the day where she would be in need for a midwife and for the joy of having another child to love. She was most thankful of all for Patrick, for their love and the journey they had been on to get to this point in their lives. She was grateful for the strength that came from God to leave the life that she knew for ten years. With all of these thoughts circulating in her mind, she whispered the simple prayer "Lord, thank you".


	4. A Turn of Events (6x04)

**Part 1**

"How is Angela going to get home? Timothy needs to know what has happened. We are already so short staffed at the Maternity Home, who is going to fill in?" Shelagh asked in a panicked tone.

"Shelagh, you need to get some rest, leave this all to me. I will get Sister Julienne to get Angela from Mrs, Penney's house and take her home and Timothy will watch after her. When visiting hours are over, I will be home with them for the night and we can get someone from Nonnatus to fill in for you at the Maternity Home" answered Patrick.

"Thank you" Shelagh replied with the best smile that she could muster

"I am going to go call Sister Julienne and Timothy right now" he said

"Okay, I love you" Shelagh replied

"I love you too" said Patrick and then kissed her forehead and walked out of the ward to go to the public phone.

* * *

Sister Julienne was in the dining room of Nonnatus House arranging flowers when the phone rang. She walked over to the phone and answered

"Hello?"

"Sister Julienne, it is Dr. Turner and I have something important to tell you" he said

"What is it? Does it have something to do with the inspection?" she asked

"No, Shelagh and I had to leave the Maternity Home in the middle of the inspection" Patrick replied

"Where did you and Shelagh have to go?" she asked

"Shelagh started showing signs of threatened miscarriage so Nurse Crane filled in for me and Shelagh while I took her to St Cuthbert's to get help" he replied

Shock entered her along with an overwhelming feeling of fear came to her when she heard the word miscarriage. Although Shelagh had not lost the baby yet, the risk was still there. She knew the detrimental impact miscarriage had on couples and families from working at Nonnatus all these years. She would never wish that sort of pain on anyone. She had prayed for Shelagh to become pregnant and she did, but now her pregnancy was in danger. God's plan is greater than her own, this she knew from years of studying the Bible and there was a reason for this happening. The best that she could do for Patrick and Shelagh was to pray for them and offer to help in anyway that she could.

"I am so sorry to hear this, is there anything I can do to help?" she replied

"Could you go get Angela from Mrs. Penney's house and take her back to our house. Timothy should be home from school by now and will be able to watch after her at home until I am able to get home when visiting hours end" asked Patrick

"Of course, we will be praying for you and Shelagh here at Nonnatus. I will send someone over to the Maternity Home tomorrow to fill in for her and if there is anything else we can do to help, please call" she replied.

"Thank you so much" he said

"You're welcome" she replied

"Goodbye Sister Julienne" said Patrick

"Goodbye Dr. Turner" she answered back and hung up the phone.

The tears began to fall on her face. She was just glad that she was able to keep it together on the phone with Dr. Turner. She prayed "Lord, please be with Dr. Turner and Shelagh as they face this difficult time. Let thy will be done and please grant them your comfort, mercy and peace. Amen". Once she stopped crying, she walked toward the sitting room so she could explain what happened and she could ask Sister Winifred to be on call for her so she could go get Angela.

* * *

 **Part 2**

When Timothy got home from school that afternoon, he arrived home to an empty house. Today was the day of the inspection and he knew that his parents were probably going to be home late, his mom even had dinner already cooked for them sitting in the fridge. He walked over to the kitchen table and put his backpack down and got his math binder out to start his homework while awaiting his family's arrival home.

He was a little over halfway done with his assignment when the phone rang. He got up and walked over to the phone to answer it.

"Hello" he said

"Timothy, there is something that I need to tell you" said Patrick

"What is it? How did the inspection go?" Timothy asked

"I don't know" he said in a hesitant tone

After a long pause, Timothy asked

"What's wrong? Are they going to close it down? Did the inspector not give you an indication of what he was thinking?" asked Timothy

"We had to leave early" said Patrick

"Why?" he asked

"We are at the hospital, mom has started showing signs of threatened miscarriage" said Patrick in a fearful tone

A sick feeling fell over him when he heard those words. He had already gotten used to the idea of a new brother or sister. His parents were so excited about the new baby, the whole Turner house was excited over the new member of the family. The thought of all the excitement and joy being jerked away made him mad. Why was this happening to his mom? Why would something like this happen to anyone? he wondered.

"What are the doctors saying? Will she lose the baby?" he asked with panic in his voice.

"We don't know, she is stable for now, but even with bed rest she could still lose the baby. She will be staying at the hospital for a couple days for bed rest and observation." he said in a sad tone.

"I just don't know" his dad said with a tone of defeat, sounding like he was about to cry.

Not sure of what to say to console his father Timothy said "Dad, I love you and mom so much and everything is going to be okay, I just know it"

"I love you too" he replied

"Sister Julienne is going to pick up Angela from Mrs. Penney's house and bring her home and you can eat the dinner from the fridge mom prepared. I will be heading home when visiting hours are over" Patrick added

"When will me and Angela get to see mom?" he asked

"By the time I come to get you and we went back to the hospital, you wouldn't have much time to visit today, so I am going to pick you up straight from school tomorrow and we can go see her." Patrick replied

"Okay, see you tonight, bye dad" said Timothy

"Bye Timothy" he replied

Timothy hung up the phone and went back to doing his math homework in an attempt to get the devastating news out of his mind. After he finished his assignment, he cleaned his school stuff off of the kitchen table and put it in his room. He took out A Midsummer Night's Dream and went to the living room to read Act 1, which is what his English quiz would be on tomorrow. While reading, he heard a knock at the door. He normally didn't answer the door when he was home by himself, but he was certain that it would be Sister Julienne bringing Angela home. He opened the door to see that it was indeed Sister Julienne holding Angela's hand at the door.

"Hello Timothy" said Sister Julienne

"Hello Sister Julienne, Hello Angela, come on in" he replied

They walked in and Angela ran over to her toys and start playing with them.

"Did you have a good day at school?" she asked

"Yes I did" he answered

"Have you had a good day?" he asked back

"Today had been a good day until I got the call about your mom" she replied

After a pause in conversation, unsure what to say next, Sister Julienne said "I can cook something for dinner"

"Mom had something already prepared some lasagna last night that's in the fridge to eat for dinner tonight because she knew that inspection day would be a long one" he replied

"Sounds great, if you need me to stay I can keep you company until your dad gets home" Sister Julienne offered

"Me and Angela will be just fine, but it is kind of you to offer" he answered

"Well I will be on my way. Goodbye Timothy, your family is in our thoughts and prayers" she told him as she gave him a hug

"Thank you Sister Julienne that means a lot" he replied

"Bye Angela" she said as she went over to where she was playing and gave her a hug.

Once she hugged Angela, she walked out the door and Timothy went back to his assigned reading while Angela continued to play. All that was left to do was to prepare dinner and wait for their dad's arrival.

* * *

 **Part 3**

The sky was dark, she had already ate her dinner and visiting hours had ended, which meant Patrick had gone home for the night. Shelagh was looking at the picture of Timothy and Angela that Patrick had grabbed from the house earlier thinking about how much she missed them. She was reliving the negative aspect of going to South Africa, leaving her children behind. There is a lot of things that she would give for this to all go away and for everything to be okay. She yearned to be home with Timothy and Angela. She wanted to read Angela her bedtime story and kiss her goodnight. She had missed hearing all about Timothy's day at school at the dinner table that night. She longed to have Patrick sleep by her side that night, but she knew that she couldn't have these things, not for a couple days.

"Mrs. Turner" she heard someone say

She put the picture back on the nightstand as she saw Nurse Crane, in uniform, walking over to her bed and sat down in the chair beside it.

"Hello Nurse Crane, how are you?" she said

"I am doing good, how are feeling?" she asked

"I am feeling better than I was earlier, worried more than anything. The bleeding and cramps have stopped for now. I am still pregnant, but I am still at risk for a spontaneous abortion." she answered

"How did the inspection go? What did Mr. Greenwood say?" she asked

"You don't need to worry about that, you need your rest, we have it all under control" Nurse Crane replied

"I know that you mean well, but I'm tired of wondering, having an answer, even if it is not good will help me put my mind to rest" she said

"Mr. Greenwood said that he would not recommend the Maternity Home for immediate closure and that Dr. Turner had made a good argument, but he had predicted that that all maternity homes, including ours would be gone within the next ten years" she told Shelagh

"The direction modern medicine has been moving the last couple of years, this doesn't surprise me, but we are able to help so many women at the maternity home, closing down would negativity impact so many women in Poplar" she replied

"I agree" Nurse Crane said

"Trixie came back today" said Nurse Crane in an attempt to keep conversation going

"That is wonderful news, she surely has been missed at Nonnatus house and I am glad that she has had a safe journey home" Shelagh said

Shelagh was trying to keep herself together, but looking at the picture of Timothy and Angela made her miss them even more than she did before. She wanted to be home and for the baby to be okay. She wished that she could go back to this time yesterday when she was at home with her family and the baby was safe and sound. She could feel her tears welling up in her eyes, she immediately said "I'm sorry"

"You have nothing to be sorry for, you have had a long and hard day" Nurse Crane replied as she hugged Shelagh.

"I just miss them so much" she added

"I know you do, I know that you love your family very much. Hopefully this will be just a small bump in the road and you will be home with them soon" said Nurse Crane

"Thank you" Shelagh replied

A moment later one of the nurses walked up and said "Visiting hours are over, you should know this"

"I guess I must be going" Nurse Crane said with a slight attitude in her tone

"Goodbye Nurse Crane, thank you so much for coming by, it means a lot" she replied

"You're welcome, Goodbye Mrs. Turner, see you later" said Nurse Crane.

She walked out of the ward and Shelagh felt a little better hearing Nurse Crane's encouraging words. She leaned back in her bed and closed her eyes in attempt to get some rest and to find closure from this terrible day.

* * *

 **Part 4**

Patrick was parked out side of Timothy's school waiting for him to finish school. Angela was sitting in the back seat, in a yellow dress, holding a drawing that she made for her mom.

"Mommy mommy" she said as she clapped her hands

He turned around, facing the backseat and told her "Yes sweetheart we all get to go see mommy today"

A huge grin formed on her face which made Patrick in turn smile back. Angela's smile seemed to melt all of his worries away and he hoped that her presence would do the same for Shelagh. He turned around to see Timothy walking up to the car in his school uniform. He opened the door and hopped into the back sear next to Angela.

"Hey dad" said Timothy

"How was your day at school?" asked Patrick as he drove off

"It went good, just another normal day" Timothy answered

"How was your day at work?" he asked

"It went good, no major emergencies which is always good, just patients with appointments today" Patrick replied

"I can't wait to see mom" said Timothy

"Me too and I know that she will be very excited to see all of us walk through the door" said Patrick. Shelagh knew that Patrick would be stopping by during visiting hours that day, but he decided to make Timothy and Angela's visit a surprise. When they finally pulled up to St Cuthbert's, he felt even more excited than before because he was just moments away from seeing his wife again.

Shelagh's face lit up as she saw not only Patrick walk into the ward, but Timothy and Angela walking alongside with him.

"Mommy!" exclaimed Angela as she ran up to her bedside. Shelagh lifted her arms to pick her up, but Patrick ran over there real quick just in time to lift Angela up on the bed with her mother.

"Hey sweetheart" Patrick said to Shelagh and kissed her forehead before walking over to the nurses station to ask for another chair.

"Hey mom!" Timothy said excitedly as he hugged her. He sat in the only chair beside the bed.

"Well this is a nice surprise" said Shelagh

"Dad thought it would be a good idea if we kept us coming a secret" Timothy said

"I am so glad that I get to see you and Angela today, I love you all so much!" she said

"I love you too mom" he replied

"And what is this?" she asked as she looked over at the drawing Angela had in her hand.

"For you" Angela replied as she handed the drawing to her mom. Shelagh looked at the scribbled drawing as if it was the most beautiful piece of art that she had ever seen.

"This is such a beautiful drawing" she said to Angela just before putting it on the nightstand.

Angela smiled back at her with that smile that never failed to melt her heart and for a moment, things seemed to be normal. Patrick came back with another chair and sat down.

"Has dad burned down the house yet with his cooking?" she asked Timothy in a joking tone.

"Not yet" Timothy replied with and they all laughed.

Shelagh felt like everything was complete now that their little family had reunited again, even if it was just for a short amount of time. In this moment she was almost able to forget all of the pain from yesterday and the worries of what might still be yet to come. It seemed like only minutes had passed when the bell rang signaling that visiting hours had ended.

"Bye mom, love you" said Timothy as she gave her a hug.

"Love you too" she replied

"Mommy come?" Angela asked.

"No mommy has to stay here and get better" answered Patrick.

Angela gave her mom a hug and Shelagh whispered in her ear "I love you". She hopped off of the bed and took Timothy's hand and they walked out the door. Patrick stood up from his chair about to say goodbye when Shelagh said

"Thank you for bringing the kids in today, it meant so much"

"Of course I was going to bring them today, I feel like we all needed this visit today" he replied grabbing her hand.

"I love you" she said

"Love you too, see you tomorrow" he replied and walked out the door.

Shelagh went to bed that night knowing that no matter what might happen, they would always have each other to get through hard times.


	5. Finally Home (6x05)

They were sitting inside the car that was parked in front of St. Cuthbert's hospital. They smiled at each other and Patrick kissed her on the cheek. It seemed so surreal that the day she had longed for since she arrived was finally here: she was leaving the hospital and she was still pregnant. She still asked Patrick

"We're going home?"

"We're going home" he replied

They drove off and the excitement in her only increased. She couldn't wait to see Timothy and Angela again. She was ready to get back to a somewhat normal routine. She couldn't return to nursing for a while, but she was thankful that she could still carry out her secretary duties. She longed to sleep in her own bed again, with Patrick sleeping by her side, and now that was going to come true. After sitting in silence for a couple of minutes, she said

"You're right, we pulled through"

"Yes we did, we can get through anything as long as we have each other" he told her

"I love you" she said

"I love you too" he replied

After what seemed like forever, they finally pulled up to their house. Patrick parked the car and they got out. Once Patrick retrieved her suitcase from the trunk, they walked up to the front door and Patrick unlocked the door and they walked in. She took in the smell of their house, one that she could not explain and smiled. They walked into the living room to find Timothy sitting at the dining room table doing homework and Angela playing with her toys on the floor.

"Mommy mommy!" Angela said as she got up and ran to her mom

"Hello my sweet Angela, mommy has missed you so much" she said as she knelt down to give her a big hug.

Angela pointed to her mom's growing bump and Shelagh explained to her, which she knew she would probably have to do more than once

"There is a baby in mommy's tummy"

""Baby?" asked Angela

"Yes, you are going to have a new brother or sister" she answered.

Patrick extended his arm and she got back up from sitting on her knees.

"And I missed you so much too Timothy" Shelagh said

"I missed you to mom" he replied

"I hope you haven't gotten into too much trouble while I was gone" she told him as she gave him a hug.

Timothy looked over his mom's shoulder at his dad and they exchanged a sly grin.

"I have managed to stay out of trouble" he answered with a laugh.

"I should probably get started on dinner" she said

"I can run and get something later, sit down and rest" Patrick said

"I've had enough rest to kill a mule" she told him

"At least let me help you mom" said Timothy

"Very well" Shelagh replied

* * *

Later that night, Shelagh was sitting on the couch with Angela sitting beside her reading The Bible while Timothy sat in chair beside it reading the latest copy of The Lancet. Patrick was gone on a house call. She was deep into her Bible study when Timothy said

"Mom, I am so glad that everything turned out okay"

"Thank you so much Timothy that means a lot, I love you so much" she replied

"I love you too" he said

As she went back to reading, she started thinking about how blessed she was. She was thankful for the fact that no matter what happened with this baby, she would alway have Timothy and Angela. She was also grateful that Timothy was so supportive through all of this. She thought about how Gloria went home to a house with just her husband and no longer being pregnant. She would never forget the painful cries that she heard Gloria make when she went into labor early. She hoped that Gloria could have a successful pregnancy someday and in that moment she prayed for her. Some time had passed when Timothy said

"I'm going to bed mom, goodnight"

"Goodnight Timothy" she replied

Not long after Timothy went to bed, Angela had fallen asleep with her head in her lap. She couldn't bring herself to move her to her bed, so there she sat on the couch, watching her daughter sleep and stroked her hair. She heard the front door being unlocked and moments later Patrick walked into the living room to find them sitting there. He had a puzzled look on his face and Shelagh whispered to him

"She just looks so comfortable, I don't want to move her right away"

He went over to the couch and sat beside them and put his arm around her and she leaned into him. It was in this moment that she felt like she could finally relax and begin to put her hospital stay behind her. She was finally home and couldn't be happier.


	6. One Last Dance (6x06)

**A/N: I started this one before 6x06 aired, but due to writers block, I wasn't able to complete this chapter until after 6x06 aired**

Shelagh was sitting on the couch, watching Patrick pack their records into a cardboard box. Shelagh had started this project, but Patrick walked in and insisted that he should finish the task. She partly did not mind because it was late and she was getting tired. She watched as he took one of the records out of the cover and put it in the record player and music began to play. She immediately recognized the uplifting song by Jim Reeves begin to play. Patrick walked over to the couch and extended his hand and asked

"May I have this dance?"

She smiled and grabbed his hand and he helped her off of the couch. He placed his other arm on her back and they began to slow dance around the living room.

"May you find that long awaited golden day today" sang Jim Reeves on the record player.

"I still remember the last time we slow danced to this song, you were frantically trying to pick out another song for the choir to sing" said Patrick

"And then I found this song and realized that it would be the perfect one for the choir to sing" Shelagh finished his sentence

"Perfect like you" he replied

"Not long after that, Angela became our daughter" she said

"As Jim Reeves put it our long awaited golden day arrived" he added

"Yes, bringing Angela home was one of the happiest days of my life and now we get to bring another baby into our family" she said

"And I couldn't be happier" Patrick replied

"Me too" she said

The music still played in the background as Patrick stopped dancing. Shelagh looked at him to see what he was about to say when he put his hand on her growing stomach. She looked down at his hand and put her hand on top of his and looked back up at him. They exchanged a look that spoke more than words could ever say.

Moments later, Shelagh said "Everyday is golden being married to you"

He leaned in and they embraced in a gentle, sweet kiss. In this moment she realized that they may be moving to a different house, but with Patrick and her children by her side, she would always be at home.


	7. Paintbrushes and Mysteries (6x07)

"The people at the hardware store are convinced that we are eating the paint" said Patrick when he walked into the kitchen.

"Yes, I'm still trying to figure out how we have turned a project that was supposed to only take one can of paint into three" she replied with a laugh. She was sitting at the kitchen table where she had been taking a break while Patrick went to get more paint for Angela and the baby's bedroom.

"It is also a mystery how a project that was supposed to be done by lunch has turned into an all day project" he added

"At least we almost have the first coat of paint done" she said

"Yes, we are almost halfway finished" he replied

Shelagh got up out of the chair and the walked up the stairs to Angela and the baby's bedroom. Shelagh picked up the paintbrush to finish the trim and Patrick picked up the roller and they started painting again.

* * *

The afternoon dragged on, and felt like time was slowing down with each stroke of the brush that was made on the wall. In these moments Shelagh questioned if they would ever get done painting this room. Shelagh snapped out of her thoughts when she heard Patrick say "Hell's teeth" in an angry tone. Shelagh quit painting and walked over to him and asked

"What's wrong?"

"I can't get these lines to go away" he replied in a frustrated tone.

"I can barely see them and they will fade a little more when the paint dries" she said

"It just seems like the more I try to fix it, the worse it gets" he told her

Shelagh realized that he was talking about more than just the paint on the wall. Seeing Susan Mullucks come to clinic a few days earlier, it reminded him of the painful consequences of thalidomide and the blame he brought upon himself for prescribing Distaval to along with the other mothers he had given it to.

"Patrick, you were only doing what was best for and the other mothers at the time. There is no way that you could have known that Distaval would have such terrible side effects" she said

"The Mullucks are only at the beginning of the many obstacles that they will have to face with Susan because of medicine that I prescribed" he replied

"But you didn't know that thalidomide was harmful or I know that you would have never prescribed it to begin with" she told him.

"I try to tell myself that, but it doesn't help because it doesn't change the fact that Susan has deformed limbs" he said

"At least we know now that Distaval is harmful and we can prevent the same thing from happening to other families" she replied.

"I am grateful that we got an answer to the cause of more babies being born like Susan and for having a way to prevent it from happening again" he said.

Silence filled the room and they started to paint again. Time passed eventually they worked there way closer to each other.

Shelagh turned around to grab a rag and she felt her paintbrush bump into something. She turned to the side that Patrick was on to see beige paint smeared on Patrick's arm. She watched him look down at his arm and look up at her, unsure on how he would react.

"I didn't mean to do that I'm so sorry" she said

"Well that's how it is going to be?" he asked in a light tone

"How would you feel if I did this?" he added as he wiped his finger on his roller and smeared paint on Shelagh's face.

"Oh Patrick" she said as they laughed. He cupped his hand around her face and they embraced in a kiss.

"I think I solved the mystery of what is making this project last so long" she said in between kisses and giggled.

"Well I don't mind the delay" he replied


	8. A New Arrival (6x08)

**Part 1**

"Shelagh?" he said as he stood at the front door to see where she was at since he could see that she was not in the living room. He had just arrived home from a delivery late that night.

"In here" she replied from the kitchen.

He walked into the kitchen to see what she was up to at this late hour to find her wearing rubber gloves with a sponge in her hand scrubbing the sink. He walked over to her from behind and put his hands on her shoulders.

"Shelagh, the sink looks spotless, you need to rest" he said as her stared massaging her shoulders and upper back.

"I won't be able to clean for the first week the baby is here and I want to make sure the house is spotless before his or her arrival. After I tucked Angela into bed, I got this sudden motivation so I decided there was no time better than now to do some cleaning." she replied

"I think someone is nesting" he said with a laugh

"I know that is exactly what is going on, but it doesn't make me any less tired" she told him

"Well there is one thing that we haven't done yet, and in the doctor's expert opinion it's a good idea because this can be done sitting on the couch" he said as he wrapped his arms around her and sat his hands on her swollen stomach.

"And what is that" she asked

"We have to start thinking of names" he answered

"Yes that is pretty important" she said

He let go of her and took a step away from her so she could rinse off the sponge and remove her cleaning gloves. She sat the gloves and the sponge on the counter and she walked back into the living room with him following behind. They walked over to the couch and sat down. Patrick put his arm around her and asked

"Do you have any ideas?" he asked

"Well for a boy I like Matthew, which means gift from God, although I don't have a middle name in mind yet and for a girl I like Hope, after having hope in Christ most importantly and all the hope we have shared throughout our relationship. I am not sure if I like it better for a first name or a middle name." she answered

"Well I think if the baby is a boy we should name it Patrick Junior" he said with the most serious tone he could muster. When Shelagh gave him a strange look, he knew she bought it and he broke out in laughter and added

"I am just kidding"

"This is a serious decision Patrick, you shouldn't joke about this" she playfully scolded.

"I like Matthew for a boy" he said

"Any ideas for a middle name?" she asked

"Paul, I have always liked that name for a boy" Patrick suggested

"Matthew Paul just doesn't really flow together to me" Shelagh responded.

After sitting in silence for a moment Shelagh said "What about Christopher?"

"Our son would have a hard time trying to write his first and middle name when he starts school because that totals to eighteen letters and thats not even counting his last name" he replied.

"You make a good point, I didn't think about that and that would be a mouthful to say" she replied

After sitting in silence to to think some more, Patrick asked "I know that it is a pretty common name, but what about James?"

"Matthew James" Shelagh said. She took a moment to think about it and replied

"I like the ring to it"

"Well then Matthew James it is" he told her

The embraced in a quick kiss and Shelagh said "Now do you have any thoughts on a girl name?" she asked.

I like Hope, but as a middle name, how do you feel about Rebecca Hope?" he answered

Shelagh thought about what he said for a couple of seconds and replied "Rebecca is the name of one of the Acting Sisters I worked under during my training to become a midwife and she wasn't very nice" she replied.

"I know you like Hope for a middle name, but I like the idea of it being her first name, I think Hope Elizabeth and Hope Victoria are pretty names" she said.

After thinking it over for a moment, Patrick replied "I'm just not feeling Hope for a first name, it is just a little out there in my opinion as a first name"

As the minutes went by and quietness filling the room while they tried to come up with other names, Patrick noticed that Shelagh began to look tired. He decided that it would be a good idea to take a break from coming up with names and go to bed.

"Why don't we go to bed and think about it some more tomorrow" he said

"But the baby could come any day now and I want to be as prepared as possible" she replied

"Even if you had the baby tomorrow, we would still have another day or two before we would have to finalize the paperwork" he said.

"I am starting to get tired" she said.

Patrick got up off the couch and extended his arm for Shelagh to grab to help her off the couch. They walked up the stairs and started to get ready for bed.

They had just gotten in their bed and as Patrick was trying to fall asleep, an idea for a name abruptly popped into his head.

"Elaine" he said

"What did you say?" asked Shelagh as she turned over to face him.

"Do you like the name Elaine for a girl? At a delivery I once attended a while ago, the mother named her daughter Elaine and told me it meant light." he said.

"Elaine Hope" Shelagh said. He watched her ponder the idea for a moment and she answered.

"It sounds very elegant, I love the meaning of it and it flows nicely with the middle name Hope. I think we have found a name if our baby is a girl"

"Yes we have" he said as he kissed her hand.

"Goodnight love" she said

"Goodnight love" he replied

They both drifted off into sleep relieved that they successfully picked out names for their new arrival.

* * *

 **Part 2**

The next day, the end of clinic had arrived and Shelagh was at the front desk, organizing the paperwork from that day while Nurse Crane was stacking the chairs back up by the wall. Everyone else had gone back to Nonnatus to attend to other tasks and she volunteered to stay back with Nurse Crane to help close up for the day with the reluctant approval from Sister Julienne. Nurse Crane offered to take Shelagh home as soon as they were done. She was stopped dead in her tracks when she suddenly had a sharp pain in her abdomen that radiated into her lower back. When the pain went away moments later, she thought to herself, "is this what I think it is?". She busied herself with the work that she was doing before to try to tame the worry that started to grow inside of her. Nurse Crane finished stacking the chairs and went to the back to start cleaning instruments. A couple minutes had passed and she felt the same pain come over her again, but this time she looked at the clock on the wall to note the current time and how long the pain would last. When the pain ended, she counted that it had lasted 40 seconds. She eventually finished the task at hand and got up out of her chair and went to the kitchen to assist Nurse Crane. As she entered the doorway, the pain crept up on her again and she grabbed onto the doorway to steady herself and was breathing heavier than normal. Nurse Crane turned around and immediately ran up to her, wrapped her arms around her and started to rub her back. When the pain had passed, Shelagh let go of Nurse Crane and told her

"This was my third pain, the last one was at 4:26 and lasted 40 seconds"

Nurse Crane checked her watch and replied "It is now 4:34 which puts your contractions at 8 minutes apart. I'll call Nonnatus house and inform Sister Julienne that you are in early labor and ask her to fetch Doctor Turner from his house calls to meet us at your house."

"Sounds great" she replied. She stood in the kitchen as Nurse Crane went to go make the phone call. Shelagh was thankful for Nurse Crane's quick thinking. When she used the word contraction, what was happening to her began to feel so much more real than before, which made her worry about all that was about to come and what could go wrong. It felt like an eternity had passed when Nurse Crane cam back to the kitchen and said

"Sister Julienne knows and they will meet us there as soon as they can"

Shelagh walked out of the kitchen, but just as they were heading towards the exit, another contraction hit. Nurse Crane like the last time, wrapped her arms around her and rubbed her back again. As her pain began to subside, she said

"I thought I would have a better idea of what this would be like, considering my profession, but I am so worried about what is to come"

"I've watched women becoming mothers for nigh on 30 years, and midwife or not, you're no different from the rest." she replied

Shelagh smiled when she said that and they broke from their embrace and left the community centre.

* * *

After what seemed like forever to get home, Nurse Crane helped Shelagh out of the car and they walked slowly towards the front door, close to her side just in case she had another contraction. Her contractions were still eight minutes apart and it had been four since her last one, they hoped that she could make it upstairs before the next one. They entered the house to find Timothy sitting in the living room reading and Angela in the floor playing with her toys. Timothy looked up, surprised to see Nurse Crane accompanying her.

"Timothy I have gone into labor and Dad is heading this way. Can you please just stay down here and keep an eye on Angela" Shelagh asked.

Shelagh watched as Timothy tried to keep a calm look, but saw a sense of panic creep onto his face. He answered "Yes I can mom"

"Thank you" she replied and her and Nurse Crane walked towards the stairs. About halfway up to the second level, Shelagh once again felt the sharp pain radiate in her abdomen and lower back. Shelagh grabbed onto the wall and Nurse Crane rubbed her back as the contraction continued. When it ended, Nurse Crane checked her watch and said "This contraction was only seven minutes apart from the last one"

Shelagh was happy that her labor was progressing, but at the same time she was uneasy about this because Sister Julienne and Patrick were not here yet. They made it to their bedroom and Nurse Crane grabbed the delivery pack off of the top of the dresser while Shelagh grabbed her nightgown and started walking out of her bedroom to go change when Nurse Crane said

"Leave the door unlocked just in case I need to get to you and I will be in here getting the bed ready for you"

Shelagh nodded and went to the bathroom. She changed into her lavender colored nightgown and wobbled her way back to her bedroom to find that Nurse Crane had the plastic mattress cover on the bed ready for her to lie down on it. She got in the bed and Nurse Crane began her examination. She first listened to baby's heartbeat with the pinard and said

"Very good heartbeat"

She then proceeded to do an internal examination to see how dilated Shelagh was and told her "You are three centimeters dilated"

"Well at least I am making some kind of progress" she replied

She stayed on the bed, breathing heavily and griping the covers as the next contractions came. She finished each one, hoping that Patrick and Sister Julienne would be there for the next one. When her and Patrick discussed her labor plans about two weeks ago, he was surprised when she told him that she wanted him in their room with her when she went into labor. "We met Angela together and I want us to meet this baby together too" she had told him. She also wanted Sister Julienne, the women that she had grown to love as a mother, to bring their child into this world.

Just as she had finished having another contraction, she heard the front door open and heard people coming up the stairs and was relieved when she saw Patrick and Sister Julienne walk through the bedroom door. Patrick rushed over to her side and kissed her hand and asked

"Hello love, how are you holding up?"

"It has been painful, but I keep reminding myself that with each contraction, I get closer to meeting our child" she answered.

"We are going to meet our baby today" he said

"Yes we are" she replied with a smile

Sister Julienne walked over to the other side of the bed, grabbed her hand and said, "Hello my dear Shelagh"

"Hello Sister Julienne, thank you for being here today" she replied

"I wouldn't miss this for the world" she told her

"Contractions are 7 minutes apart and she is three centimeters dilated" said Nurse Crane

"Thank you so much for keeping an eye on her until we could get here. I can take it from here" said Sister Julienne

"You're welcome" she replied

"Thank you" added Patrick

"Thank you so much" said Shelagh

Nurse Crane grabbed her bag and said, "Goodbye everyone and I hope that you meet the baby very soon"

Nurse Crane let the bedroom and went downstairs to let herself out. Although Shelagh was going through the worst pain of her life, she was thankful for Patrick and Sister Julienne's presence and smiled. It was at that point she was truly ready to have her baby.

* * *

 **Part 3**

"You are eight centimeters, not much longer now" said Sister Julienne with a smile

"You're doing so good Shelagh, we are more than halfway there" said Patrick as he squeezed her hand.

Patrick let go of her hand and took a step back from the bed. Sister Julienne helped Shelagh off of the bed and helped her ease her way to a kneeling position. She was now on her knees grabbing on to the side of the bed, which was the only position that made the pain a little more bearable. It had been just over five hours since Shelagh had her first contraction. It was dark out from what she could see outside, her glasses became very uncomfortable to wear so she had taken them off. She could feel her strength dwindling away with each contraction that came by, being a little more intense than the last one. Her contractions were now three minutes apart and lasting a little over a minute long. Another contraction hit her and began to breathe heavily, saying a silent prayer asking God to help her get through this. She was suppressing the urge to cry out because didn't want to wake Angela and scare poor Timothy to death. Patrick kneeled down and rubbed her back and told her

"Now if you need to cry out to find some kind of relief, then go right ahead"

When the contraction stopped, Shelagh replied "I don't want to scare the children"

"Angela is fast asleep in her sleeping bag in living room last that I checked and Timothy was sitting at the kitchen table reading, they will barely hear anything at all being on the other side of the house" said Patrick. They had decided to keep the children downstairs until the baby was born and when Angela's 9 o'clock bedtime arrived with Shelagh still in labor, Patrick arranged for them to sleep downstairs that night.

When the next contraction arrived, she took Patrick's advice and allowed herself to cry out. Patrick was once again by her side, rubbing her back like every other contraction she had while in this position. Crying out allowed her to relieve a little bit of pressure which made it slightly easier to get through it, which she was thankful for. When the pain had passed, Sister Julienne asked her

"Would you like Patrick to bring some gas and air up here to help you get the the contractions?"

Shelagh nodded and started to get up when Patrick helped her up and sat her on the bed.

"I will be right back love" he said and walked out to fetch the gas.

Sister Julienne sat down beside her on the bed and grabbed her hand. "You have done really great coping with all of this"

"I don'f feel like a star patient" she replied

"Well you certainly are" Sister Julienne told her

All hope of having the gas and air for the next contraction abruptly faded when the sharp pain had once again returned, sooner than the others. She grabbed Sister Julienne's surgical gown and cried out as Sister Julienne rubbed her back and whispered a prayer, trying to hold back tears that were caused by the sadness of seeing her in this terrible pain. Once the contraction had subsided, Shelagh sat herself back up and said Sister Julienne,

"I think I want to sit up in the bed for the next one"

"Sounds great" she replied as she grabbed Shelagh's arm to lift her up and helped her on the bed. Just as she got settled, Patrick came back in with the gas and air and set it by the bed. He began to get it ready for the next contraction. Once it was ready, Patrick knelt at her bedside and held her hand. Moments later, Shelagh told him "It's time". He handed her the mask and she breathed in the gas as the contraction arrived. She enjoyed the loopy feeling that it gave her as a distraction from the pain that she was in. Once the contraction ended, she removed the mask from her face and handed it back to Patrick to put back on the nightstand.

"That makes thing a lot easier" she said, but immediately regretted it when a wave of nausea suddenly hit her and she started to gag. Sister Julienne quickly grabbed an empty bowl and passed it to Patrick who held it out for her as she threw up. When she was done, he passed the bowl back to Sister Julienne who left the room to properly dispose of the contents.

"I guess that is the end of gas and air" she said.

"That is one of the unfortunate possible side effects" he replied.

"I'm sorry to have grossed you out like that" she added.

"Don't apologize Shelagh, you are getting through this so beautifully and I couldn't be more grateful to have you as a wife" he replied.

* * *

The next internal examination Sister Julienne did, she was able to finally say "You are fully dilated and ready to push"

Shelagh and Patrick looked at each other and smiled and then Shelagh smiled at Sister Julienne and stated

"Almost there"

Once she was put in the proper position to push, Sister Julienne said "On the next contraction, you need to start pushing". Shelagh followed her directions when the next contraction hit her, she gripped Patrick's hand and she felt intense pressure arise as she pushed. When the contraction quit, Sister Julienne told her

"Good job my dear Shelagh".

She had helped so many women get through this part of childbirth, but until now she didn't fully understand how much focus, strength and determination it took to get through this part. She was in a trance that she had never experienced before, putting all her focus into meeting her baby and listening to Sister Julienne's orders. She got so lost in the task at hand, she didn't even know how much time had passed when she felt a burning sensation shortly followed with Sister Julienne saying "Baby is crowing".

"That's my girl" Patrick said.

After pushing once again, Sister Julienne told her "Now one last big push and baby will be here"

Shelagh was so relieved that this was all going to be finally over. The next contraction finally arrived and she pushed with all the energy she had left. She felt her baby leave her and moments later, heard her baby cry which filled her with great joy.

"It's a girl" exclaimed Sister Julienne

She placed their daughter into Shelagh's arms and her eyes immediately welled up in tears accompanied by a huge grin forming on her face. Patrick grabbed her glasses off of the nightstand and put them on her face for her. She looked up at Patrick to see him also crying with a huge smile on his face.

"We have another daughter" she said to him

"Welcome to the world Elaine Hope Turner" he told their child with a huge smile across his face.

"What a beautiful name" said Sister Julienne

"Would the proud dad like to cut the cord?" she asked.

Shelagh watched Patrick as he extended his arm to grab the scissors from her hands and carefully cut his daughter's umbilical cord. He handed the scissors back to her and she said to Patrick "Why don't you go bathe Elaine while Shelagh and I finish up"

"Sounds great" he replied as he scooped the baby up from Shelagh's arms and walked out of the bedroom. The afterbirth passed with what seemed like ease compared to delivering her daughter, but none of that mattered now. Once Sister Julienne cleaned everything up, Shelagh told her

"Thank you, for everything"

"You're welcome. It brings me joy to see you happy on the path that God has chosen for you" she replied.

"I love you so much" Shelagh said

"I love you too" she replied.

They heard a knock at the door with Patrick asking "Is it okay to come back in?"

"Yes" Sister Julienne replied

He opened the door with Elaine wrapped up all snug and clean. Sister Julienne walked up to him with sling in hand to weigh their baby.

"She is 3.2 kilograms" she told them she handed the baby back to Patrick.

Shelagh beamed at the sight of seeing the man she loved holding the child that they made together and that she carried for nine months.

"Would mommy like to hold her now?" he asked

"Yes" she replied with a smile

Patrick placed the baby into her arms and she got so lost in the moment she didn't even realize that Sister Julienne had pack all of her instruments and was holding her bag until she said

"If you need anything, don't hesitate to call and I will be back in the morning to check on you again"

"Thank you so much" said Patrick

"Thank you and we will see you then" said Shelagh

She left their bedroom and it was just them two there, admiring their youngest daughter. She looked over at the clock to see that it was half past one in the morning and she didn't even care about the exhaustion that overwhelmed her body. Everything felt so perfect and complete in that moment, holding a healthy baby in her arms with her husband by her side.

* * *

 **Part 4**

Shelagh woke up the next morning and put on her glasses to find Patrick sitting in a chair beside their bed holding Elaine. He looked up at her from looking at their daughter and said

"Good morning love"

"Good morning love" she replied

"How are you feeling?" he asked her

"I am still sore, but that doesn't matter, it was all worth it" she answered

"Getting some rest definitely helped, although I feel bad that I left you to stay up with her for most of the night" she added

"Don't feel bad Shelagh, you had to do the hardest part, it is the least I could do" he told her

"Are you ready for me to bring Timothy and Angela up her to meet their sister?" he asked

"Yes" she replied

He got up out of the chair, handed her the baby and left the bedroom to go get them from downstairs.

* * *

He walked into the living room to find Timothy sound asleep on the couch and Angela still asleep in her sleeping bag. He went over to the couch, bent down, tapped Timothy on the shoulder and said

"Wake up Timothy"

Timothy took a deep breath and slowly opened his eyes, sat up and asked

"Did she have they baby?"

"Yes, are you ready to meet your youngest sister?" he said

"I have another sister?" he replied

"Yes Tim" Patrick answered with a huge smile on his face

When Timothy stated laughing, Patrick asked

"What is so funny?"

"I guess we have to start packing our bags, we are officially outnumbered" he answered

Patrick laughed with him remembering the conversation that they had not long after Timothy told them that he knew Shelagh was pregnant. He heard movement from behind him and realized that their laughing had woken up Angela, which is what he was about to do anyways. He turned away from Timothy, kelt on the ground to face Angela and said

"Good morning sweetheart, I have someone I want you to meet"

"I want mommy" she poutingly replied

"We are going upstairs to see mommy and this new person" he said to comfort her

He scooped up from her sleeping bag and held her on his hip. He headed toward the stairs to go back to the bedroom and Timothy followed behind him. They walked through the hallway, which was when Patrick's excitement escalated to see his family together for the first time as a family of five. He opened the bedroom door and he knew Shelagh was just as excited as him to see them together as a family of five. He sat Angela down and watched her run up to her mother's bedside and said with a smile

"Mommy mommy"

"Angela this is your new baby sister" she told her

She looked at the baby that was laying down in Shelagh's arms, trying to precess what was going on.

"You know how you like playing with baby dolls?" she asked

When Angela nodded back, Shelagh told her "Well I feed this baby with a bottle like you feed your baby doll, change her diaper and give her lots of hugs. But this baby is really fragile and cannot be dropped"

Angela kept on looking at her new sister, still not sure what to think. Timothy had walked to Shelagh's bedside with a huge smile on his face admiring his new sister.

"She is adorable, does she have a name?" he said

"Elaine Hope" Shelagh replied with a smile

"That is a great name" he told her

"Do you want to hold her?" she asked

"Yes I would" he answered. Timothy went around and sat in the chair that was on the other side of the bed. Patrick scooped the baby, walked over to Timothy and placed her slowly into Timothy's arms.

"Make sure you support her head" Patrick told him.

"Hello Elaine, this is your brother Timothy. You have picked a really great family to be apart of" he said in a baby voice as he looked at her.

Shelagh and Patrick looked at each other and smiled at the sight of seeing Timothy bonding with his youngest sister.

"You know, girls find guys holding babies really attractive" Patrick teased

"Dad!" Timothy replied slightly embarrassed, which made Patrick and Shelagh laugh.

Moments later, the doorbell rang which was more than likely Sister Julienne coming to check on Shelagh.

"I'll get that" Patrick said and left the bedroom.

Shelagh watched Patrick as he walked out of the room to answer the door. She looked over at Timothy as he held Elaine in his arms so wonderfully and then turned her view to the other side of her at Angela standing by her beside adorable as ever. In this moment, she was overwhelmed with joy for her little family and said a prayer, thanking God for this beautiful life He had given her.


End file.
